Thursday, September 17, 2015

#HERO: Gaslamp & Why We Should Vote YES on Prop1 (PART 1)

I have been sitting back waiting
to respond to the incidents that have taken place at Gaslamp in Midtown. This takes me back to an incident that I wrote about that took
place at Tony’s Corner Pocket on LUEY weekend, when I was told “get out of my way nigger.” Then finding out that Tony’s had a history of prejudice and racism
toward Black members of the LGBT community via stories and screenshots from one
of the DJs who worked there. The connection between Gaslamp and Tony’s is that
they both used a cover charge and only for Black and Brown people who sought to
enter. These incidences outline the NEED for the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance which protects Houstonians in situations like this.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance provides protections in employment (both public and private), housing and public accommodations for the following classes:

Recently Three black men, Brandon Ball (32), Dan Scarbrough (42), and Ken Piggee (43) made their way to
Gaslamp (Facebook page & website) and were told that they would be charged a cover because they were out
of dress code. They decided not to pay
the cover and went elsewhere and then decided to walk back by Gaslamp and from
Brandon Ball’s observation...

"We're looking, and there
are white people going in and getting their hands stamped..."

"They were going in and not paying anything."

...White customers entered "free of charge
and minorities get turned away." According to the Houston Chronicle, the trio observed "Two black men visiting from San
Antonio said they were told they couldn't enter because they were wearing Polo
shirts and jeans. A group of Hispanic men said they were told to pay a cover.
Two Brazilian men received the same treatment, as did two Vietnamese women," and "A large group of Hispanic men and
women also were told they couldn't enter without a $20 charge, while a group of
white people went in for free..."

Ball also told The Chronicle this: "It didn't matter what they
had on for the most part..." in reference to the white patrons entering the bar
that night

“My name is Brandon Ball. I am 32 years old. I am African American.
Tonight I was with my friends Dan Scarbrough (42) and Ken Piggee (43). Both are
also African American. We were in the Midtown area of Houston, TX tonight and
tried to go into The Gaslamp. Both Dan and Ken had on blazers. I had on a
button up and slacks. When we walked up the guy at the door told us $20 each.
We didn’t want to pay that amount so we decided to go to the next bar down, The
Dogwood, which was free. After about 30 minutes we left The Dogwood and were
walking back. As we passed The Gaslamp we noticed folks walking into The
Gaslamp without having to pay. Those folks who didn’t have to pay were white. I
brought this to Dan’s attention a few minutes later and he said we should go
back and just watch from across the street to see if there was some "funny
business" going on. Ken, Dan, and I went back and watched from across the
street as the guys who were working the front door of The Gaslamp allowed white
people to come in one after the other. Every black person who we watched try to
go in was told there was a $20 cover or that their attire was not proper. One
black guy was told that he could not get in because he had on Polo Boots. Dan
spoke to several people who were told there was a $20 cover and they pretty
much all said the same thing. It was not just blacks they were charging. It was
people of both Asian and Latin decent. I again tried to walk in and was told
there was a $20 cover. This was right after I had just seen a group of white
guys walk right in. I finally went and spoke to the cop who was working the
door (who is a minority himself) and asked him if he was aware and comfortable
with how the door guys were conducting business. His reply was basically...
"I just work and do my job and those guys over there do their job." I
told him he was complicit but he blew me off. I then took pictures of the two
main guys at the front door and both of them began to ask if I had a problem.
The one in the short sleeved shirt went as far to tell me that he hoped I
didn’t "run up on him in the streets because it would be a problem."
Why does this matter to me? Why is this important? If I have to answer that
please just move along. This post is not meant for you. This event occurred in
the late night of Sept. 11th. A day in which we as a country are supposed to
come together. But events like this just tells us how far apart we are. Please
share this. Please pass along. Please read this and understand what type of
establishment The Gaslamp is. If you were at The Gaslamp on this night and had
a similar experience please comment and share. Don’t let actions such as this
continue with no recourse. If you know the guys working the door let them see
this. Please let them. Remember, this is 2015."

As of today the Chron reports that law enforcement some agencies are no longer providing services to Gaslamp and aside from that, this story illustrates the need for Proposition 1(HERO) to pass on November 3. When HERO was in effect, ninety five percent of reported discrimination was based on race. TO BE CONTINUED....